Bike To Work, Car-Lite, Commuting, Family, Family Bike, Simple Living, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Who is winning?

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2013 Wisconsin Bike Challenge

As it has been in the past, Ingersoll Rand is participating in the Endomondo National Bike Challenge and I’m tracking my miles on the site.  The first year that we participated the only miles that were taken into account were transportation miles.  There was a cool calculator that told how much C02 and money were saved by people riding their bikes instead of driving.  Now, any miles on a bike are included and the number of participants is skyrocketing.  This means that my choices to live in town and therefore have a shorter commute are pushing me down the leader board, into the 200′s.  This isn’t winning and making me feel less than awesome.  I did a little digging on the site and found that I tracked 776 car-replacement trips in the past 12 months.  THAT makes me feel a little more awesome! The question becomes how and why should I be awesome?

I’ve been reading Jon Acuff’s book Start and have decided that I just need to stop trying to find my dream job and just keep being me and allow the awesome to come through.  While I was reading the first few chapters of the book I wrote down a few things that I want to be awesome at:

  • Husband
  • Father
  • Bikes
  • Community Building/Placemaking

You’ll notice that blog author isn’t on there. According to Jon, you have to draw a start line and go.  First and foremost I want to be awesome in the eyes of my wife and kid(s), if I fail there it’s definitely game over.  Bikes and placemaking are next in line – I want to prove to people that the car is definitely not a necessity and that by getting people out in their yards, parks and other public areas that society as a whole will benefit.

You’ll notice that none of the things that I want to be awesome at include my job.  See, my job simply allows me to make money to support my family and to help me on my path to awesome.  My job is ok, but it helps me to be awesome.  I don’t have complete control over my job, but I do on my start line, if I become awesome enough and one of those things on my list becomes my job, great.  If I become awesome and a new job opens up, great.  If I become awesome, and this blog becomes awesome, and makes me money to support my awesome family, great.  Even if I stay in the same job and I’m awesome, I’ve got that going for me…

1lessminivan is going to be the tale of me figuring out how to be awesome to my family and hopefully to the people around me.  I’ve tried in the past to immediately make the blog into something much larger than it really is.  It’s basically a journal and maybe someday somebody else will read it and find inspiration to become awesome too.

Mileage for 5/6/2013

Car: 0.0
Bike: 15.61
Walking: 3.17

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Why am I here?

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There’s storm clouds on the horizon.  It will rain, and people will think I’m crazy for riding my bike to work.  My wife will demand that I drive in, my father will try to convince us to buy a second car, and co-workers will shake their heads when they see me come through the door with my helmet.  The thing is, I love to ride my bike, even in the rain.  People should have stopped when they invented the bicycle, its the closest to perfection that they will ever get.  It’s efficient, it’s fun, it’s healthy, and it brings people together.  Ever since I was a little kid, the answer was the bicycle.  ”What do you want to be when you grow up?” I want to ride my bike!  I was told that I couldn’t ride my bike for a living so much that I actually believed it.

I had my dream job when I was 16, working at Valley Ski and Bike.  Even the building was the coolest place, it was two storefronts that had been combined together and since I was a mechanic, got to work in the coolest basement shop.  It was old and dirty, and there were a maze of rooms to store things in, and even a cool coal vault that we stored unbuilt bikes in that was under the sidewalk.  I could never wait to get to work, I loved it there, there was no place that I would rather be.  I was told by my father time and time again that I had to make something of myself, that I had to go to school and get a real job. “You don’t want to work on the weekends the rest of your life, do you?”  It was ingrained in me so much that I went to college right out of high school, not knowing what I wanted to be and failed out twice.  Then I got an associates in computer science and my dad was so proud that I would be working the same place he worked for like 40 years.  Now I’m finishing up my bachelor’s degree and 13 years later still at Trane, just like Dad.

It’s just like in Breaking Away, Dad just doesn’t get it, bikes are the answer to pretty much everything.  Americans in general don’t get bikes either, but slowly but surely they are figuring it out. On one day at Valley, I was watching an old classmate remodeling a storefront and wondering aloud if I’d ever own my own business.  I should have been listening to my boss when he said, take some business classes and this could be yours.  The only thing I heard was fake voices of people in my head looking down on me.  The thing is, if I was selling and working on bikes everyday of the week, I’d be happier professionally than I am now.

I’ll get there somehow, and some way.  There are books all over the place about people doing what they love.  I’ve always thought the bike was the answer, its why I ride to work rain/shine/snow.  That’s why you’ll always find a bike near me.

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Day 16

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Bikes are the answer.

Not many people get it, not even my wife sometimes.  I ride my bike everywhere because I want to, not because I have to.  When its raining outside, Linds tries to make me drive in to work and gets upset if I don’t.  Thing is I’ve got rain gear, fenders, and showers at work and I really would still rather be on my bike than in the car.  I like the feeling of riding in the rain, I always have.  I also like the silence that surrounds me when I’m riding on my favorite neighborhood streets after a snow storm. To put it simply, it’s just better on a bike no matter the situation.

The past couple days have been tough, my thoughts and prayers have been elsewhere: in Boston, on my final few classes of my undergraduate career, some tough situations at work, and with my family.  It’s amazing how much a simple bike ride can do for a person.  My commutes always refresh my mind and get me ready to face the next issue that I’ll have to face.  

I’m thankful to have 30daysofbiking to provide that extra motivation to get out and ride at least once a day even if it does feel like January in April out there.  

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A day in the life…

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…of a new family.

So this blog is my daily thoughts on being car-lite with a family.  Part of the blog is all about riding bikes for your main method of transportation, but the other part of it is about me learning how to raise a family.  So I’m starting the “A day in the life…” category where I will write about daily goings on in my family.  My extended family and friends can use this to keep up on how and what the Lindsey, Sam and myself are up to.  So here goes:

25 days in…

Sam is approaching 4 weeks old already! There have been many ups and downs, many lessons learned, and few cargobike loads full of “wow, he is so cute, I can’t believe that we made him!” comments from Sam’s proud Mama and Papa.  This week we found out that the reason that we had a baby that would literally scream and cry every second he was awake was either Acid Reflux, or issues with Mama and Dairy.  So we stopped the dairy intake and started Sam on some medicine for the reflux on Sunday.  Almost like a light switch, things started to take a turn for the better.  But, this morning somebody decided to have a growth spurt and only sleep for 15 minutes at a time since 3:30 in the morning.

Needless to say, I left for work this morning and left behind a pretty cranky baby, and a very sleep deprived Mama.  I came home for lunch and was able to help my baby get a little rest in my arms and give my wife a little break from constant bouncing, feeding and diaper changing.  This gave her a chance to look through the two boxes of clothing that came in the mail from my “sister” in NYC (long story…).

2 boxes full of great hand-me-downs from Liz and Gavin

Then it was back to work for me, which is always a hard thing for me to do.  Leaving behind a tired wife and a baby that I swear I can tell he’s grown over a 4 hour period.  But, away I went, with the hopes that both of them would be able to get a little rest in while I was at work.  A Skype message saying that nobody had slept at work sprung me back into action…  I had to run to the bank to get our monthly budget money and then I thought I’d stop at the grocery store for some flowers for my wonderful, trooper wife.  What I wasn’t expecting was to stumble into the 1 day meat sale, so I got something for both of us.  Since I was shopping I got stuff to make Lindsey’s current favorite meal, tatertot casserole.

 

Meat and Flowers

Once at home, I gave the flowers to Lindsey and got supper in the oven when Lindsey announced that the UPS driver was here with Sam’s new cradle! (Sam made quite the haul today!)  You see, Sam will only sleep in his Fisher Price Snug-a-Bunny swing.  We have been hauling this thing in between the living room and our bedroom for days.  He just doesn’t like to lay flat on his back in a crib or bassinet yet.  We found a Snug-A-Bunny rocking cradle on Amazon and ordered it.  Looks like this may be just the ticket for us, and it folds up nice if we ever go on a trip!

Snug as a baby in a bunny?

So that leads us up to right now, and I’m happy to say that both Mama and Sam are sleeping away, and have been for the last hour!  Miracles do happen!

Family, Family Bike, Simple Living Leave a comment

Neighborhood Love

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Our growing little family has moved into the best neighborhood in La Crosse. There are neighborhoods with bigger, fancier houses, but the Hillview division of La Crosse is in my mind the most desirable place to live. Lindsey and I have been taking walks through the neighborhood since we moved in to our new house, and repeatedly we have randomly commented “I’m so happy we moved here, this really is the best place to live in La Crosse.” Why is this neighborhood so special? Several Reasons come to mind:

The Neighborhood begs you to come out and play.

Right at the end of our alley is Myrick Park, which is a perfect place for a nice walk through the park and nature trails (Linds and I have a nice 2 mile loop from our back door, through the park and a quick loop out on the marsh). If you have kids the park is home to Kid’s Coulee, which is a great playground for kids of all ages to get out and play, and socialize with other children. This will enable us to use our small backyard for a garden, and a place to hang out with friends and family since we have the great playground literally across the street. If you’re looking for and educational experience for your child, look no further than the Myrick Hixon ecopark, which offers; “marsh trails, greenspaces and adventure playscapes to the spectacular atrium of the EcoPark Center, families, friends, school groups, visitors and organizations appreciate the inventive opportunities for community, learning and just plain fun of the EcoPark.” And finally if you need to get away for some exercise, take the trail at the end of the block under Highway 16, and you can experience miles of hiking, biking and skiing trails year round!

Old fashioned neighborhood.

While Lindsey and I met by moving into the same neighborhood, I only met the people immediately surrounding my house in the old “neighborhood.” We’ve been in the new house now for 2 months and I’ve met everybody around the house, across the street, even down the block and other streets (minus the college kids of course, who are only outside to put the beer cans in the recycling bin). People in this neighborhood are always out and about. Everybody waves when you are out and about, they always say “Hi.” I’ve been amazed at the hospitality shown in the neighborhood.

Connected

The best part for me is that I’m close to everything via bicycle. I’m 2.2 miles from my work, which is very easy for me to be able to not only ride to and from work every day, but I can also come home for lunch so that I can see my family more! Grocery shopping is even easier since I can get to the grocery store 100% on bike trails (well ok, I do have to ride about 100′ on a park street). The same bike trail connects up with several rails-to-trails bike paths so literally 100′s of miles of car free trails are right at my door step! Mountain biking is available via a trail at the end of the street. It’s really quite easy to leave our car parked for days on end!

Car-Lite, Family, Simple Living, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Waiting Game…

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It’s almost here – the day that I was 95% sure that would never come.  My very own father’s day – the day that Sam is scheduled to arrive.  Time will tell whether he’s a punctual person, or if he got my procrastination genes.  Lindsey and I have spent the last months getting ready for him to arrive, and I can’t wait for him to be here.

 

 

This waiting game also marks the real beginning of the blog for me.  I’ve been looking for a way to define the blog, but when I look at some of the other great blogs, they all have one thing in common, they are all experience based and evolved out of someone documenting their experiences.  As I build content on the site, it’s pretty much going to be a whole heck of a lot of me trying to figure this Dad thing out and sharing my successes and failures with all y’all.

Everything’s in order now… We’ve got the house in our desired location, Sam is on the way (hope he gets here soon!) all we have to do now is wait!

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Living the Hectic Life…

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The month of May was supposed to be one that we could save a LOT of money, get ready to move into the new house, prepare for our baby’s arrival in early July, and write a lot of content for 1LessMinivan.  Unfortunately, life happens and much that I had planned hasn’t happened.

Saving Money…

We moved into my in-laws for the month of May, and this was supposed to allow us to save our entire mortgage payment.  However, I got a promotion at work (Thank You!) and that changed me to a monthly pay period.  So I don’t really know what my paycheck is going to look like on the 30th.  And we’ve strayed from my budget for my last 2 week check, so for the first time in a long time, I feel like I have no idea where we stand on our budget.  I don’t like that feeling of uncertainty.

I also was kind of weak with a gift of a bicycle to my wife on mother’s day, but she really did need a bike that she could commute comfortably on, especially now that she’s 8 months pregnant!  Weare going to sell some bikes that she won’t ride and that should negate the cost of the new bike, so really while I bought to early, budget wise, we’ll be ok.

Getting ready to move:

We are currently living with the in-laws and anxiously awaiting May 30, when we can move into the new house!  We have several projects in mind, but with our (my) budget concerns we may tone back our instant todo list in the new house because it is completely livable as it is.  We will be removing carpet from the livingroom and bedrooms, painting the first floor, and possibly renovating the back porch into the dining room.  There are big plans in our heads about the new kitchen that we want to build in the existing kitchen and “dining room,” But I’m thinking we may just take the walls down and do that project slowly to reduce stress.  Stress is one thing that we don’t need as we enter the last few weeks of…

Preparing for the Baby

We certainly have a lot of baby stuff thanks to our wonderful family and friends!  Toning down the project list a little bit will allow us to get the nursery ready in time for our new family member to come home, and not completely stress us out.  Lindsey is currently sewing a super sweet bike quilt for him and once we’re in the house that means that we actually have a theme for our nursery!  BIKES! She sure knows the way to get me on board with something!

Turning it All Down a Notch.

Turning it all down a bit makes me feel much better about our current status.  It’s very easy to get caught up in things and start thinking that your wants are actually your needs.  I can’t live with out this little gadget.  Take for example my situation at the bike shop… I work mainly for store credit nowadays, and the shop is 13.1 miles from the house each way.  So I feel like I “need” to get myself a new long distance commuter but in reality I just want it.  This is something that doesn’t really cost me money though, but there are always things that I think I need, which in the end are simply wants.  Which leads me to the following idea:

No Spend Month

Lindsey stumbled on a great blog, Small Notebook, which I’m currently reading quite a bit of their content in my spare time.  They take one month each year and do a “no spend month.” It’s not a month where you don’t pay for anything, you still pay your mortgage, utilities, tithe, and other necessities, but you make a vow to live on what most Americans would consider crazy for a month.  $250.  $50 per week.  That includes gas, food, any entertainment.  What happens is that you are forced to focus on your needs.  You need to eat, but do you need to eat at a restaurant?  Apparently at the end of the month, you’ll find that you have adjusted your priorities slightly.

I’m thinking that this would be a great idea for our family, as it seems to be right up our alley.  How long can we leave the car parked? Easy, we’re used to riding our bikes places (will be different when we have a newborn).  We already have stuck to a really tight food budget when we were doing baby step 2 of the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover.  So the only thing that I see hindering us is the timing of it.  Maybe we’ll have to give it a shot later in the year, once we have settled into life with a baby, or maybe July would be the time – jump in with both feet!  I’ll keep you all updated as to our progress and preparations for this as we go along!